Huge plastic water storage tanks

What about rain barrels? I have seen people on Youtube running 4-6 in tandem and I'm sure you could rig something as far as airation.

chicago.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=rain+barrel&srchType=A

Ops, sorry Don, I hadn't looked at page 2 when I replied. My Bad!!!!

Rubbernaid also make commercial water tanks, I have the 100 gal size, it's 33"W x 52"L X 25 1/2 H, turn it sideways and you're in the basement.  I have one in my basement I keep my koi in before I release them outside, got mine from Menards, they carry 3 sizes but not sure if the 100 gallon is the largest or middle size, costs about $62.  Syd's Nursery in Palos will order you a larger one but they're a lot more $$, they  have the larger ones on display with their koi in them.

I too have used the rubbermaids w/o any problems.  The 74, 100, and 300 gal. all have bungs near the bottom.  That is the only area I have had any problems.  The plugs they come with can get easily overtightened and leak.  I had to remove them and replace with reglar bulkheads and they worked awesome.  I have never heard of them not being fully cured, never even crossed my mind.  I used them as GO for Fronts and O's for several summers w/o issues.  One of the 300 is now home to a huge snapper.  There tough as nails, can even back your car into them 

Just wanted to thank everybody for all the help.  I went with the 150g Rubbermaid, and it works great.  I have to thank Mike G twice, both for reassuring me about the plastic curing issue with stock tanks, and for showing me his 'sump pump in a trash can' siphon rig.  I ended up making one of those, too...  Water changes have gone from an endless chore to no big deal at all.

I posted lots of photos and info at Aquatic-Terrors and The Water Snake .  The sump pump stuff is also there, so it shows my complete new water-change system.  I was also planning to put everything in the DIY section here, but the '4 pix per post' and '128k per pic' limits won't let me post it as-is.  I may break it into pieces and squash down the pix at some point in the future.

Thanks again!
Don

Mike is dead on.  Read enough and you will find 100 reasons why the other 100 guys are wrong.  Too much info is "almost" as bad as not enough!  Oh,  and when ya get Mike's input on a subject,  it's good advice.  Mike only talks when he's "been there / done that!"

If you read long enough, you will find a million reasons not to keep fish.  That story reeks of malarky.

I have used stock tanks dozens of times.  I often buy them for the season and then I sell them.  Never had any issue.

That makes my plumbing job a lot easier.  Thanks!

Now I'm down to just one nagging issue.  It took me awhile to find the relevant article in my stack of magazines, but it sounds pretty scary.  It was in 'Aquarium Fish Magazine', November 2006 - "Understanding Nitrifying Bacteria".

"...some koikeepers discover that some of the plastic vats where they housed their fish were not fully cured.  Part of the manufacturing of these plastic vats should allow complete curing of the plastic.  If this is not done, the plastic will continually leach ammonia into the water inside the vat.  It appears that in addition to leaching ammonia, other chemicals prevent the ammonia-oxidizing bacteria from becoming established in biofilters connected to these vats.  In this case, the solution is simply to empty the vat, and let it sit in the hot sun for a day or two and become warm enough for the plastic to finish the curing process."

That would have been a pretty simple solution if I had been doing this a month ago, but we're pretty much out of 'hot sun' for the year.  Has anybody else run into this issue?  They didn't point a finger at the brand involved, but it sure sounds like they're talking about stock tanks...

Obviously, I should let the tank water sit awhile and then test it for ammonia.  I'm just wondering if anybody has ever heard of this before, and whether Rubbermaid or Agrimaster/Freeland tanks are more prone to it.  It might just have been a couple of bad batches in/before 2006, and everything could be good now.  Maybe somebody has more recent info- I got nowhere on Google.

once the stock tanks get over 50g I belive they have a fitting at the bottom - my 75 and 100 both have a threaded fitting at the bottom

I hadn't thought to check Craigslist- I guess that explains why there isn't more stuff on eBay.  Most of the great deals won't fit down my stairs, though.

Since I've got all that wasted space under the shelf, I think I'm just going to raise the shelf a few inches and use a stock tank.  The plywood shelf is nailed to 2x4s, and the 2x4s are attached to the concrete.  I should be able to pry off the shelf and add another row of 2x6s or whatever on top of the existing 2x4s before putting the shelf back on.  That'll save me the trouble of drilling new attachment points in the concrete.

I'll probably start with a 150 gallon stock tank, and get another later when one isn't enough.  I'll heat and aerate both, and see if I can get by with a 'permanent siphon' made of large-diameter hose or PVC.  I'll weight or anchor it at both ends so that it always stays slightly below the level of the pump intake.  If that doesn't work, then I guess it's Uniseal time.  I just want to avoid drilling the tanks if I possibly can

I'm planning to make 2-piece tank lids from styrofoam sheet to keep heat and moisture in and crud out.  I'll probably silicone the larger lid onto the tanks, and then have a removable section that just covers the end of the tanks where they peek out from under the shelves.

Thanks for all the great ideas!
Don